White Rapids of Shadow
by Russell Scottie
Summary: Just who is Whitewater? And how did she become a warrior of ShadowClan? And why did she retire so early? This is her story, follow Whitewater as she becomes a warrior of ShadowClan, gets Redwillow as an apprentice, and retires early to be an elder. Also find out Redwillow's true reason for joining the Dark Forest!


**I always thought it was weird that Whitewater popped up randomly in ShadowClan without her ever being mention before. I know the Hunters tend to do that sometimes with characters, but Whitewater's case was unique as her name was way different than any normal ShadowClan name.**

**Also, I have no idea if Redwillow, Shrewfoot, Scorchfur, and Olivenose are siblings or not, the books never said. But they were apprenticed at the same time and made warriors at the same time, so it'd make sense if they were siblings.**

**Oh and there's no category for Whitewater and Redwillow, so I couldn't put on any character category for the story.**

**White Rapids of Shadow**

"Badger! There's a badger in the territory!" Crowfrost shouted as he exploded through the camp's entrance, Kinkfur and Oakfur right behind him.

The ShadowClan cats that were milling about camp began to whisper among themselves. A badger in ShadowClan territory didn't happen that often.

Four kits, all four moons old, had been playing outside the nursery when the three warriors came into camp. They stopped their games and began whispering to each other.

"A badger in ShadowClan territory! Can you believe it?" a gray she-kit with black paws mewed.

"Look! Blackstar is gathering patrols to hunt it down now!" a dark gray kit pointed out to his siblings with his tail.

The other kits turned and saw that indeed, Blackstar had gathered his warriors around him and were ordering them into patrols to hunt down the badger to chase it out.

"What if the warriors fail to chase out the badger?" a slim tortoiseshell she-kit mewed in worry.

"We'll chase it out!" a small mottled brown and ginger kit said, determination in his dark green eyes.

"But we can't, Redkit! We're just kits!" the tortoiseshell she-kit protested.

"We can do it, Olivekit!" the gray she-kit with black paws told her sister.

"Then lets go before the warriors notice us missing," the dark gray kit said.

"This way!" Redkit mewed and lead the way, making sure no one noticed them. They went behind a den where a hole in the camp wall stood, unfixed. "Through here." The mottled tom was the first to step through, his sisters and brother soon following after.

"Scorchkit, you have the best nose, can you smell anything?" the gray with black paws she-kit asked her dark gray brother.

"Give me a moment, Shrewkit," Scorchkit mewed and he stuck his nose to the ground and began sniffing about. As the wind blew toward them, he suddenly pulled back with his nose scrunched up in disgust. "That way," he said, pointing his tail deeper into ShadowClan's territory. The kits seemed to hesitate, wondering if going after the badger was the right thing to do.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Redkit asked, he was the first to dispel the hesitation from his mind.

The other kits let their hesitation disappear and together the four kits wandered deeper into ShadowClan's territory, Scorchkit in the lead as he was the best tracker out of them.

Scorchkit stopped and pointed to a bush. "It's behind that bush," he whispered to his siblings.

The four kits ducked under the bush and looked up. Instead of seeing a weak badger like they thought they would, they saw two strong looking badgers sniffing the ground, making strange noises to each other.

"Eep!" Olivekit squeaked in fear, but Redtail slammed his tail into her mouth to silence her.

"I'm scared, Redkit," Shrewkit whispered as they watched the badgers.

"Me too," Scorchkit added.

"Alright, we'll go back," Redkit told his siblings, feeling the same fear, but he refused to show it as he wanted to be brave for them.

The kits turned back and began to leave, but two twin growls stopped them in their tracks. They turned and saw the badgers glaring at them, slowly coming toward them. Screeching in fright, the kits tried to run away but the badgers were soon upon them.

Scorchkit was thrown toward a tree by a large paw, he hit it and fell down, and he did not get back up. Olivekit and Shrewkit screamed with fright and tried their hardest to get away, but with one swipe of one of the badger's paws, they were sent felling to the ground where a badger fell on them, clawing and biting. Redkit was turned and faced the badger charging at him, he unsheathed his claws and leapt at the badger's face.

He clung with all his strength, scratching the badger with his back claws, he hoped it would be enough to scare the badger into leaving them alone.

The badger quickly knocked him off and attacked with fury. As his blood began to spill from wounds the badger caused, fear filled Redkit. _StarClan, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to lead Shrewkit, Olivekit, and Scorchkit into this! Please don't take them because of my actions!_

Feet gripped him and the badger grabbed him, shaking him around and tearing flesh. His vision began to swim and his other senses dulled. _Is this what it feels like to die?_

A fierce yowl pierced the air and a white blur flew out from under some undergrowth, lunging itself at the badger that held Redkit. Redkit fell and stared up dazed. _Snowbird? But she's in the nursery! It's not Snowbird… Who is it?_

The badger howled in rage and pain as the white cat took chunk out of its ear. The other badger, turned from its attack on Olivekit and Shrewkit to help its companion. The white cat was out numbered, but that didn't seem to faze the cat as it whirled about attacking the two badgers, she was a great force to be reckoned with.

Redkit looked away from the fight to see if his siblings were still alive. He spotted Scorchkit twitch, but didn't get up. _At least he's still alive. _He turned to his sisters and saw them try to get to their paws, but both fail, falling down in exhausted piles of fur. _They're all alive, thank StarClan._

A screeched of pain grabbed his attention; Redkit looked back to the fight and gasped. Half of their savior's face was bleeding from large fresh claw marks, a pale blue eye clamped closed. The badgers appeared to sneer at the cat in triumph, slowly closing in on their opponent.

A battle cry ripped across the forest and Rowanclaw, Ratscar, Snaketail, and Toadfoot with Russetfur at the front raced toward the battle, their fur fluffed up to look twice their normal size. At seeing so many cats, the badgers turned tail to run off, but not before getting a few wounds from the warriors. Russetfur ordered Ratscar and Snaketail to go after the badgers to make sure they were chased off ShadowClan's territory.

"Rowanclaw check on Scorchkit for any serious injuries. Toadfoot, you do the same for Shrewkit and Olivekit," the ShadowClan deputy ordered before turning to Redkit and the rogue. "Redkit, can you stand?" she asked, her voice turning gentle as she talked to the kit.

"I-I don't know," Redkit admitted, but tried to stand anyway. He managed to get to his paws before he collapsed from the pain. "I guess not." He turned to watch the panting rogue, now able to see the white cat fully. It was a longhaired white she-cat with pale blue eyes, the only thing that marred her beauty was the wound across her face that she just gotten from the badgers. Her wound looked much worse than his in his opinion, panic filled in. _What if she doesn't make it? _"Russetfur, please! I'm fine, but she's not! She saved us!"

Russetfur turned her full attention on the white rogue, inspecting the wound from a distance. "Littlecloud will need to look at your wound, he is our medicine cat. Would you like to come back to our camp with us?" she spoke to the injured she-cat in a careful tone.

The white rogue nodded. "Okay," she mewed. "But the kits must be seen to first."

The dark ginger colored deputy nodded back, agreeing with the rogue. Her ears perked up at the sounds of Ratscar and Snaketail returning. She turned to her warriors, an air on command in her body and voice, "We need to get them back to camp. Rowanclaw, Toadfoot, can they walk?"

"Scorchkit can," Rowanclaw answered, Scorchkit standing on his paws next to the warrior.

Toadfoot shook his head, "These two will need to be carried."

"What do you mean by _them_?" Ratscar asked the deputy with a hiss in his voice. "Surely you don't mean the rogue too."

Russetfur whipped her head around to glare at the scared tom. "This rogue saved these four kits. She will be returning to camp with us to have Littlecloud heal her," she told Ratscar, her voice hard like ice. "If you, if any of you, have a problem with that, you will be doing apprentice duties for the next moon."

Ratscar gulped, not wanting to face Russetfur's fury, but otherwise he stayed quiet. The other warriors didn't make any sound of protest about bringing an injured rogue into camp.

"Toadfoot, you take Olivekit. Snaketail, take Shrewkit. Rowanclaw, keep close to Scorchkit and if he needs help, carry him. Ratscar, go ahead of us and inform Littlecloud we are bring back five wounded. I'll be taking Redkit," Russetfur meowed, waiting for the warriors to obey her commands.

Ratscar raced off into the forest, back toward camp. Toadkit and Snaketail picked up their assigned kit; while Rowanclaw turned his eyes to Scorchkit, ready to pick him up if he needed carrying. Russetfur picked up Redkit and made the signal to follow her as she began to walk back toward the direction camp was in.

The white rogue walked beside Russetfur, not sure what else to do. She stumbled a few times as she was unused to navigating with one eye injured. The deputy leaned again the rogue to give her support and the rogue sent her a thankful look for the help.

When they stepped through camp, Littlecloud and several warriors were there to meet them. "Take them to my den," the small tabby medicine cat told the patrol.

Redkit was placed down on a soft nest, next to his siblings in the medicine cat's den; the warriors and Russetfur quickly left to give the medicine cat space. Littlecloud padded over to the rogue, wanting to work on her first as her wound looked the worst.

"The kits; please do the kits first," the white rogue told the medicine cat, her pale blue eye filled with concern for the kits she had saved.

Littlecloud looked about to protest, but understanding filled his blue eyes and he turned his attention on the four kits. After he did all he could with his herbs for them, he turned toward the rogue and began examining her wound.

Redkit was exhausted and the poppy seed Littlecloud had given him didn't help matters, but the little mottled kit did not want to sleep until he knew the she-cat, his savior he corrected himself, would be okay.

"I'm sorry; the wound to your eye is too deep. It won't ever fully heal," Littlecloud told him, a note of sadness that he couldn't do anything to fix it in his voice.

"You mean I'll be blind in that eye now?" the white rogue asked.

Littlecloud sadly nodded.

_No! _Redkit thought as he struggled to stay awake. _It's my fault she won't see from that eye! If only I never suggested going after those badgers!_

"How are they?" Blackstar's voice sounded as he padded into the medicine cat's den with Russetfur.

Littlecloud told his leader the conditions of all his patients, saying that with time the kits will recover, but the rogue will be permanently blind in one eye from her wound. Blackstar nodded and turned to the white rogue.

"Russetfur said you were very brave to have faced those badgers on your own to protect these foolish kits. My Clan thanks you for saving our kits," Blackstar meowed, staring down at the rogue. "What is your name?"

"I couldn't just leave those kits after I heard their cries," the white she-cat mewed, looking up at ShadowClan's dark yellow eyes. "And my name is Whitewater."

_What a strange name, it sounds almost Clan-like. _Redkit thought.

"That's a very unusual name you have," Blackstar commented.

"My mother gave birth near a river with rapids, she was fascinated by them and named me after the white water that the rapids produced," Whitewater told the black footed tom.

Suddenly a strange expression covered Blackstar's face before he asked, "How would you say about joining ShadowClan? Russetfur told me how you fought like a warrior today and ShadowClan is low on warriors."

Whitewater looked with a wide pale blue eye, her other eye was sealed shut by cobwebs. "I've heard about you Clans," she mewed as she began softly, "and I would like to join you."

_Whitewater is joining ShadowClan. _A warm feeling filled Redkit at the thought of continuing to see his savior. The pull of sleep was suddenly too much for the kit and he fell into a deep sleep, missing the rest of the conversation.

**This chapter would have been much longer, but I decided to split it into two chapters.**

**I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review with what you think**


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